All Square At Links Park

Dundee United 1 Rangers 1

Rangers Under 18’s shared the spoils with Dundee United in their league clash at Links Park Montrose this afternoon, over the piece a draw was probably a fair result. The Ibrox youngsters had to come back from going a goal behind within ten seconds and had a couple of decent chances to edge ahead before the break after drawing level. The second half was a bit of a non event with neither side seriously threatening to grab  a winner.

The home side took the lead within the first ten seconds, Aaron Donald’s long ball caught out the Rangers defence leaving Stuart Heenan racing clear to continue into the box and slot past Jack McConnell. Zak McKay’s run towards the right hand byline and cutback resulted in shots from Robbie Ure and Charlie Lindsay that the United defenders blocked. Almost Immediately Sam Lovie broke down the left for United and his cross picked out the unmarked Layton Bisland but he headed straight at Jack McConnell.

The sides were level just beyond the twenty minute mark, Mackenzie Strachan’s corner from the left was right on top of Ruairidh Adams, the keeper’s punch was weak and the ball fell to Robbie Ure at the back post for a simple tap in. Three minutes later Charlie Lindsay broke forward leaving two defenders in his wake, he passed to James Graham inside the left side of the box, his cutback found Rory Wilson on the edge of the box and he shot just wide of the keeper’s right hand post.

The next chance came from a Kyle Semple ball over the United defence with Ruairidh Adams racing from his box to deny James Graham. Robbie Ure and Mackenzie Strachan then combined to setup a shooting chance for Leyton Dunlop on the edge of the box but he shot straight at the keeper.

Ruairidh Adams was more seriously tested on a couple of occasions before the break. First up Charlie Lindsay’s chip into the penalty area was headed up in the air and James Graham’s volley forced the keeper to dive to right to make the save. James Graham then crossed from the left and picked out Rory Wilson at the back post and his header was blocked by the keeper.

Half-Time:- Dundee United 1 Rangers 1

Ten minutes into the second half some good play from James Graham on the right saw him pass inside to Rory Wilson who eventually got a shot away but it was straight at Ruairidh Adams. The only other effort of note in the opening forty minutes of the second half was a long range effort from Lewis O’Donnell that was straight at Jack McConnell.

The final five minutes saw a half chance for each side, Lewis O’Donnell cut in from the left and his shot from the edge of the box was saved by Jack McConnell low to his left. The final effort on goal came when Jack Roberts won the ball and passed to Robbie Ure on the edge of the box, as he tried to go past a defender the ball broke to Charlie Lindsay but again the shot was too straight and Ruairidh Adams saved comfortably

Full-Time:- Dundee United 1 Rangers 1

Dundee United:- Ruairidh Adams; Layton Bisland, Jacob Comerford, Aaaron Donald, Sam Lovie; Keir Bertie, Lewis O’Donnell; Rory McLeod; Stuart Heenan, Finn Malcolm, Miller Thomson.

Not Used:- Brian Mwangi, Dominic Naglik, Alan Domeracki

Rangers:- Jack McConnell; Zak McKay, Kristian Webster, Connor Allan, Kyle Semple; Leyton Dunlop; Mackenzie Strachan, Charlie Lindsay; James Graham (Tyler Pasnik 72 mins), Rory Wilson (Jack Roberts 65 mins), Robbie Ure.

Not Used:- Jacob Pazikas (Gk), Kelsey Ewan, Harley Ewan, Darren McInally, Ryan Duncan, Zak Queen.